The platform of the new captain-general is accepted, as might be expected,
with unqualified satisfaction by the organs of the “Casino Es-paSoi.” The
views expressed on this subject in my Nog. 730 and 902 are confirmed by this
official and public avowal of the representative of the Spanish republic in
Cuba.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Address of General Jovellar on taking possession of
the captain-generalcy of Cuba, November 5, 1873.
Government oe the Captain-Generalcy of the ever-faithful
Island of Cuba.
Inhabitants of the ever-faithful
Island of Cuba:
The executive power of the republic has been pleased to confide to me the
military and political command of this island. I arrive here at a time
when, after an experience of five years, devoted without any definite
results, as yet, to the conciliation of the conflicting extremes of one
of the most difficult situations that can afflict any
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country, it lias become evident, bcyonft a
doubt, that it is expedient and even necessary to subordinate all other
questions to one alone—to that of the war.
It matters not that the insurrection, vanquished by force and exhausted
by time, has lost a great part of the importance it had at the outset,
nor that our means of action are to-day far superior to those which,
through an excess of self-confidence, we were at the commencement able
to oppose to the rebellion. The bravery and constancy of the army, the
zeal and vigilance of the navy, the energy and dicision of the
volunteers, are assured guarantees, in any case, for the success of a
struggle which is only kept alive at present by the difficulty of
penetrating to the lurking-places of the enemy. But while the fact
remains that somewhere in the territory of the island a show of warfare
is kept up, even though it be by wandering bands, heterogeneous in
character and relatively few in number; while this fact serves to raise
the hopes of unpatriotic Spaniards, and to force upon loyal Spaniards,
not uneasiness, for their good judgment repels that, but the necessity
of extraordinary sacrifices in their property and in their persons;
while rural production, the main fount of our wealth, remains exposed in
certain districts to devastation and conflagration; and while, in short,
a pretext exists for gauging, by the false standard of its duration, the
importance of a movement which in reality is already far gone in its
decadence, there is nothing of so much interest and urgency for the
public welfare and for the prestige and honor of the nation as
there-establishment of the normal status of the island.
My purpose is, therefore, to subordinate all else to this consideration
within the bounds traced by the laws.
The immense majority of the island maintains its nationality with a
patriotism worthy of the highest examples of history, and before this
fact all difficulties disappear; because on the sacred altar of our
country there is offered the spontaneous sacrifice of a truce to all
political discussion, which ever tends to benefit the common enemy by
weakening the cohesion of the great national party; because the payment
of taxes and all other treasury-dues will go on with increasing
exactitude, so that the resources we now more than ever need may not be
impaired; and because all of us will lend the most efficacious aid to
transform our administration into a zealous agent of all legitimate
interests, as is demanded by the credit and honor of each and all of us.
In this way the political and financial question, which has so deeply
impressed, and even alarmed, public opinion, will have an easy, simple,
and speedy solution.
Meantime, social reform, that exigency of the present epoch imposed by
the course of modern opinion, may and should still continue to be the
object of special meditation and conscientious study. And,
notwithstanding the war, this reform has initiated and is carrying
forward the truest representation of agricultural interests, to the end
that in due time a solution may be reached in terms which shall
conciliate the change of condition of the laboring classes, the rights
of property, and the maintenance of production, the protection of which
for the general good of the country is the mission of all governments.
Consequently all apprehensions based upon the belief that hasty and
extreme measures would be adopted ought to cease and confidence should
be revived, for without it the restoration of the public credit is
utterly impossible.
Presenting ourselves thus, strong through our unity, rich through
administrative morality, and energetic through patriotism, the present
war can inspire us with little fear, for it is not the expression of an
equal power contending for the triumph of a cause, but the desperate
hope of delirium, trusting for success to our dissensions; let us
destroy this hope, and the war will be at an end.
Lastly, all of you may cherish the assurance that, complying with the
instructions of the government of the nation, I shall be untiring in my
efforts to bring about peace and public prosperity, to protect credit,
and to punish fraud with a strong hand; that I shall, in fine, with the
utmost zeal, take care that none of the great interests Of the island
suffer detriment while this command is held by—
Your governor and captain-general,
JOAQUIN JOYELLAE.
Havana, November 5,
1873.
